Pedagogical Materials

Compiling materials and suggestions for educators in Yiddish Studies is a passion of mine.

Teach Great Jewish Books, a website of the Yiddish Book Center, offers resource kits aimed at instructors at the high school level. I have created several kits, which include cultural and literary materials curated around a theme, together with suggested questions and activities.

• Rosh Chodesh and the Transformation of Ritual
• A Million Matzo Balls (with Rachel B. Gross)
• Abraham Cahan’s Yekl
• The Sukkah in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture
• Esther: A Heroine For Our Time?
• Sacrilege and Sacredness on Yom Kippur
• Gluckel of Hameln: The Life of an Early Modern Jewish Woman (with Julie Rezmovic-Tonti)
• This is the Moment I Trained for in Hebrew School
• A Cultural History of Channukah Gelt
• Kol Nidre: Variations on a Theme
• Miriam Karpilove’s Diary of a Lonely Girl
• Yenta Mash’s “A Seder in the Taiga”

Teaching Guides for In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies

These teaching guides, centered around materials translated and published on In geveb, are designed for university-level instructors and include discussion questions, writing prompts, and annotated bibliographies.

• Teaching Guide to Leon Kobrin’s “Blessed is the True Judge” In Geveb.  October 2021.

• Teaching Guide to Erotic Yiddish Poetry In Geveb.  April 2019.

• “Teaching Guide for Kerler’s “Old Man” and “The Sea” (trans. Evrona).”  In Geveb.  January 2017.

• “Teaching Guide for Dik’s ‘Slavery or Serfdom’ (Trans. Rosenblatt).”  In Geveb. October 2016. 

“Loyt Di Lerers / Teachers Weigh In” Series

During my tenure as Pedagogy Editor for In geveb, I created surveys of Yiddish studies instructors and published the results.

• Teaching with Sholem Aleichem
• The Person Teaching with Yiddish
• Intermediate Yiddish
• Yiddish Clubs and Reading Groups
• Teaching Texts in Translation

Stand-Alone Articles

In addition, I have published several articles, reflections, and activities about teaching Yiddish language and culture.

Improvisational Performance in the Language Classroom: An Example from a Beginner’s Yiddish Class, In geveb. March 26, 2020.

“Yiddish Translations of American Literature in Your American Literature Class” – Part One; Part Two. Pedagogy in American Literary Studies. March 2020.

“Teaching Yiddish Through Song“ In geveb. February 13, 2019.

“From Kansas to Kentucky in a Jewish Literature Classroom: A “Creative Option” for Reflection Papers.” In geveb. November 2017.

“In geveb in the Classroom: Getting to Know the Best Dressed Better.” In geveb. February 2016. 

“Games for Small Groups.” In geveb. November 2015.